Мой Дом

My Home 2011 report
The Fund’s main field is facilitating adoption and foster care by Christian families.

There were 12 children added to the Fund program in 2011: 9 were taken in

foster care and 3 were adopted. Thus there were 112 children under the care

of the Fund in 2011. At the moment there are 5 families going through the

adoption procedures. And there have been located two families willing to take

2-3 disabled children each – and the Fund is helping to remodel and improve their housings.
Traditionally the year starts with New Year’s and Christmas celebrations.

It has become our tradition to congratulate our partners and families and

friends; and this year they received postcards and calendars.
All throughout the year the Fund staff provide social support to adopting

families participating in the Fund. Some of this work is done in a distance

way through phone calls and emails, and then there are letters sent with

recommendations, methodological ideas, useful suggestions and resources.

Another part of support comes from visitations of the families, when we can

sense the climate in the family, fellowship with them and provide help if needed.

It is during such fellowship that we work out our strategy for further actions

in specific family settings and for helping families in general – through choosing

the most relevant topics for trainings and educational seminars.

The Fund also provided help with recreation for health improvement

for the children, and with medical treatment when the situation

demanded it. Each child in the Fund gets a birthday post card.
This year a group of 17 of our children went to

Nadezhda camp to Kerch (Crimea).

The main event of 2011 was the family camp for adopting and fostering families, which was

held September 3 – 7, 2011 In Scadovsk. 40 families with about 190 people total

(including staff, volunteers, and our friends) were gathered on the Black Sea coast.

Each day the parents had the classes on:
-How to help a child grieve
-Understanding, grieving and celebrating a child’s disability
-Simple tools to conduce attachment in different ages
- Talking about adoption with other people
- A blueprint of marriage
-Communication
-Conflict.
-Change.
-My home – a happy home
-Wounded children, healing homes
-Healthy sexuality in  sexually stylized world
-Behavior management

Each day the children had fun and attended various activity groups: in encaustic,

extreme sports, decoupage, bead weaving and wood painting etc.), and then there were

informal fellowship nights. Special attention was given to the parents’ relationship with one

another and therefore we held a romantic night.
Our speakers were Lynn and Ruby Johnston, a couple from Canada with 30 years experience

in child welfare service; and Deborah Amend, a mother of 5 children, 3 of them being adopted

and with special needs. Deborah is also the author of the Dress for Anna book that

My Home translated and published in Russian in 2010. Our parents received a copy of it as a gift.

The videos from the camp are all done and copies are made, so we can send them to all

who are interested. Seminar videos are almost finished and we plan to use them as a

training tool for current and future adopting families.

All throughout 2011 there were presentations to promote adoption in churches of

Kherson and Kherson region. The presentation that had the most audience was

participating in Ukraine’s Day of Prayer for Orphans on November 6.

There were over 170 churches that joined in this prayer. My Home helped to organize

days of prayer in Nikolaev region and in the Crimea.
As social ads there were booklets, cards and leaflets printed and thematic videos

spread during presentations and personal counseling sessions.
There were social ads put up on billboards in Kherson to promote adoption.
The Fund is helping the families that are willing to take disabled children to improve

their housing. The construction of the first house will be over in March-April,

and the second project is to begin in spring.
20 families took part in photo exhibition “Happiness of Adoption” within the

framework of Ukrainian Alliance “Ukraine without Orphans.”
The Fund provided charity help:
To baby house “Maliutka” – a playground and foods.
To Tsurupinsk orphanage for disabled children – medical equipment,

orthopedic footwear, finances for 10 children to attend a Christian camp.
To Tsurupinsk tuberculosis therapeutic facility  - a sports ground and sport equipment.

Due to changes in Ukrainian legislation as for charity support all of the families participating

in the Fund were transferred to the new terms of receiving charity help. A database in

compliance with the new standards was created to send the financial support to families.
The Regulations of the Fund were amended and re-registered, which broadens the

Fund’s scope of activity significantly.
We are grateful to each person who participated in the work of the Fund through

their prayers, finance, time, participation in the camp and other projects and any

other ways of help, and we you’re your support will continue.

God’s blessings to you in the new year of 2012!